Charley and I have discussed some odd entrepreneurial ideas. The basic idea would be a business to address a person's entire life from birth to the grave. Examples from the life of faith would be custom made baptismal fonts, kneelers, perhaps pews, alters, vestment cabinets (made one already) and last but not least....coffins. For our God given life in this world, cradles, high chairs, tables, chairs, benches, etc.......
Back on the topic of coffins. I had the wacky idea to buy some land and start a cemetery. What could be hard about this???? Practically speaking to me a cemetery could not possibly be that complicated. What did people do years ago? They um.....had some land, dug a hole, buried the body in a coffin or.....in something even simpler than that. People did not fuss terribly about boundaries between graves etc but basically got the job done. There was no embalming, rules about such things, complicated zoning issues or franchises of funeral businesses getting upset because of the.....competition?????? What? A person can not simply die, be respectfully buried the good old fashioned way because we HAVE to follow these rules?
What I would love to do is start a business of simple coffins, tasteful, where a family could buy an affordable coffin for their loved ones, and then bury their dead in a cemetery which is not full of heavy costs, rules and regulations. After touring a mortuary in college I have a distinct distaste for embalming. Dust to dust seems far more respectful to me. I'm odd. I love a walk in a cemetery.
So the kicker in my quest for information on this topic, was an article on a 'new trend' toward green cemeteries? New? This is the old trend. The new trend is the embalming, regal monuments and anything that would soften the reality of death to people shopping for a nice coffin, real-estate, and the whole process before hand to mask the cold, hard facts. We all die and return to dust. Call me weird to have a desire to offer people the real 'old fashion' methods of natural burial. I personally wouldn't mind if my family laid me out on the table as they used to. I think things will return to this. As I get older and kids fly the nest, God willing I am still living myself, I think I would love to design a beautiful setting for burial. Benches, Charley's favorite - oak trees, and simple care. The article addressed the expense of burial to the cemetery. Hmmmmm.......digging a hole. Why is this expensive? One can use a back hoe or a shovel if need be. NOT expensive.
Call this the weirdest blog post you may have ever read, but establishing a business which covers all of God's given life for us and the consequence of sin....death, somehow fills me with an odd excitement. It would minister to peoples life and death needs. It would selfishly be therapeutic to me. Perhaps my love of mowing the lawn will take a new twist. We shall see what the county laws, ordinances, and funeral business regulations will do to my little dream.
I love this post. :-) After burying my mother, brother, grandma and just recently my MIL I've taken a lot of thought to not only burial practices, but my very own funeral as well. The cemetery my MIL was buried in required a vault and then the family chose a liner as well. Why wouldn't they? In that moment you want the deceased to remain the same as they were a month ago.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading on a "green" cemetery in Oregon awhile back. I thought that was such a great option. I've told my hubby time and time again put me in a pine box and bury me as cheaply as you can. This is not an easy task in todays funeral homes b/c of state regulations and cemetery requirements. Good luck on your endeavor.
To dust we shall return. Why try to prolong our earthly bodies from decomposing naturally?
This is the weirdest blog post I have ever read ;-) (Not really) But I like it, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI also like the womb-to-tomb business ideas that you and Charley are kicking around. Good thinking.